I have been featuring lakes in New Zealand in my series of posts on lakes, and today my post is on a lake in Cambodia. It is certainly not like any lake I have featured. Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in the whole of South East Asia. However, it is incredibly shallow for most of the year. I could hardly believe that the large expanse of water we were travelling on was only a meter deep. It is only during the monsoon season that the lake swells to more than 7 times its size! The lake then has a depth of 9 meters or more.
What is unusual about this lake is that it supports a floating village with homes, a school, and even a church.
Most of the people who live on the floating village are Vietnamese who have emigrated to Cambodia seeking a better life there. Three quarters of fish caught inland in Cambodia come from Lake Tonle Sap itself.
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| The school for the ethnic Vietnamese children. |
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| There is a church behind this boathouse. |
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| Two decidedly more up-market versions of boat houses compared to the previous one. |
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| A fascinating image of a typical mode of transport for a child to get around the neighbourhood! |
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"Look what I found to play with!"
For Watery Wednesday, please click here and for Outdoor Wednesday, click here. |
